

An early Japanese RPG released by Hot-B in 1984 that departed from the fantasy themes of most other early RPGs in favour of what is possibly gaming's first sci-fi cyberpunk plot. Set in a post-apocalyptic city, the game revolves around an amnesiac protagonist with psychic powers.

Role-playing (RPG) / Adventure / Fantasy
Final Fantasy VI is the sixth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, developed and published by Square. It was the final title in the series to feature two-dimensional graphics, and the first story that did not revolve around crystals. The game gives players up to fourteen playable characters, the largest cast in the series, and features the Active Time Battle pseudo-turn based menu command system. A party can consist of up to four characters, though some events require the player to assemble three different parties of up to four and switch between them. Each character has a unique command ability, such as Terra's Trance, Locke's Steal, Edgar's Tools or Sabin's Blitz, and can also learn Magic spells from earning AP from battles with magicite equipped. Each character's rare Desperation Attack will randomly activate after using the Attack command when at critical health.

Role-playing (RPG) / Adventure / Card & Board Game / Fantasy / Science fiction
Final Fantasy VIII is the eighth main installment in the Final Fantasy series. The gameplay makes a departure from many series standards. While it still uses the Active Time Battle system, it deviates from the series' traditional means of boosting a character's power via leveling, although levels are not completely abandoned as they were in Final Fantasy II. In addition, it does not have a Magic Point-based system for spell-casting. Instead, magic is collected, drawn, and created from items, and is used to power up the characters via the junction system.

Shooter / Role-playing (RPG) / Simulator / Action / Science fiction
An early first-person role-playing shooter released by Arysis Software for the PC-88 and PC-98 in 1988, and later ported to the Sharp X68000 and Mega Drive/Genesis. Ahead of its time, it had 3D polygon graphics, FPS gameplay, strafing controls, open-world space exploration, and an epic sci-fi space opera plot.

Role-playing (RPG) / Adventure / Science fiction
The humans who breathed the toxin-filled air on the Earth's surface became one with the Earth and kept dissolving. The history of humanity ended and dominion of the planet returned to the demons. These mutant creatures did not depend on oxygen to survive. Therefore, they were able to breathe the air and use the land.Meanwhile, an army of robots wage World War IV against the demons in order to conquer what is now known as Makai - the Demon World. These robots came to the planet on a wave of energy that created an explosion that turned the world into a wasteland. Much later in the game, concurrent themes including Adolf Hitler, war, creating a perfect race of people, and the destruction of humanity in the year 1999 are revealed to the player inside one of the robot's main bases. Can the demons gain dominion on the humans' old planet or will robots enforce impose a millennium of logic and dictatorial force throughout Makai? Playing as the robots is not an option that is open to the player. Therefore, the player must take advantage of his or her mutant army and crush the robot invaders. This game builds on the fear of robot domination of the world that has been featured greatly in movies from The Terminator to Terminator Salvation. The gameplay is similar to Final Fantasy as the turn-based fights are viewed from a third-person perspective.

Role-playing (RPG) / Turn-based strategy (TBS) / Adventure / Fantasy / Open world
CHRONO CROSS, the sequel to the SNES favorite CHRONO TRIGGER, is one of the most ambitious role-playing games ever made. There are over 40 playable characters, each with their back-story, special moves, abilities, and weapons. The story spans two discs and follows the story of Serge, a young man who is able to cross dimensions. Suddenly he is pulled between worlds, trying to figure out his own past at the same time. The graphics are bright and beautiful, utilizing the PlayStation's capabilities to the fullest. The polygonal character models are huge and detailed, and the pre-rendered backgrounds are immaculately detailed. The music is composed and arranged by Yasunori Mitsuda, and features very realistic-sounding synthesizers. The battle system revolves around Elements, which are used to grant magical powers, as well as to summon huge monsters. For anyone that wanted to see the story of CHRONO TRIGGER continue, this is your chance.

Role-playing (RPG) / Action / Fantasy
Gameplay is similar to the original Phantasy Star, the first game in the series. Its battle system is turn-based, allowing the player to choose commands for their party of up to four characters. Each of the eight characters has a different set of preferred weapons and armor, as well as techniques, suited to the character's job. The player must defeat enemies in the overworld and in dungeons to advance in the game. The game abandoned the first-person view that the first game used for dungeons and battles. Phantasy Star II instead uses a top-down perspective for exploration and a third-person view in battles.

Role-playing (RPG) / Adventure / Fantasy / Sandbox
Final Fantasy II is the second installment in the Final Fantasy series, developed and published by Squaresoft. It was directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, with Yoshitaka Amano designing the characters and Nobuo Uematsu composing the score. It was notable for being one of the first story-intensive RPGs released for console systems, and introducing many series staples, including chocobos and a character named Cid. Its story is unrelated to the original FINAL FANTASY, and its gameplay is a major departure from the previous title for eliminating the traditional experience-based progression system.

Role-playing (RPG) / Adventure / Action / Fantasy
Final Fantasy III is a remake and a complete overhaul of the 1990 version with the same title. This allowed western players to finally experience the classic Final Fantasy game localized for the very first time. The graphics are rendered in full 3D and various changes have been implemented.